[author: Westford Lang]
On July 17, 2017 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced updates regarding the implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order 13780, in response to a ruling by the U.S. District Court in Hawaii.
Last Thursday, July 13, 2017, the U.S. District Court in Hawaii issued a ruling regarding the definition of “close familial relationship,” as that phrase was used in the Supreme Court’s June 26, 2017 order on implementing Section 2(c) of E.O. 13780. A close familial relationship for that purpose was previously defined as a parent (including parent-in-law), spouse, fiancé, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sibling, whether whole or half, and including step relationships. The District Court of Hawaii ruled that, in addition to those relationships, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and cousins also be included in the definition of “close familial relationship.”
As of June 29, 2017, DHS and DOS had begun implementing Trump’s Executive Order at United States embassies and consulates abroad in compliance with the Supreme Court’s June 26th decision that agreed to hear the travel ban case next fall and partially granted the government’s request to stay the lower court’s injunctions. Their website states that “implementation [of the Executive Order] is in full compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision.”
